Paul Ricard, a forerunner in the corporate sponsorship of culture, was a patron of the arts throughout his life. Under his aegis, Ricard founded its corporate culture on the values of sponsorship. In 2007, the Fondation d'entreprise Ricard, chaired by Philippe Savinel, C.E.O. of Ricard and managed by Colette offered a reshuffled gallery space designed by architects Jakob + MacFarlane. The space was devised with a view to showcasing artists and confirms the permanent commitment of the Foundation to young contemporary creation."Our project drew its inspiration from the values that characterize the Fondation d'entreprise Ricard." The Fondation d'entreprise Ricard has as its mission to back young creators working in France in all contemporary media of expression: painting, video, installations, fashion, photography... The exhibition space of the Foundation, located 12 rue Boissy d'Anglas in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, is the place where a whole generation of artists has emerged. Its specificity is to maintain close and long-term contacts with promising artists.The Foundation organizes 8 exhibitions or so every year and regularly gives young curators a carte blanche to put on collective shows. It is also a place of exchange and discussion: every month the public is invited to take part in debates in a spontaneous and convivial atmosphere, be it with the new program "In Situ & In Vivo, conversations on art" hosted by Pascal Beausse, the "Invitations to the imaginary" programmed by Michel Maffesoli and "Après Coup", a new series of reflexions about the actuality and contemporary problems. "Fiction/ performed readings" associates artists from various disciplines- (visual artists, writers, performers...) each of them raising a specific relationship toward reading and literature.One of the highlights of the year is the Fondation d'entreprise Ricard Award, which acknowledges the significance of the work of a young artist. The award involves the purchase of a work, which is then presented as a gift to the Centre Pompidou and featured in the permanent collections of the Musée National d'Art Moderne.The Foundation also has a partnership with the FIAC (the International Fair of Contemporary Art) for an original program : the "Young Curators Invitational" (YCI), in which young international art critics are invited to establish contacts with all the parties involved in contemporary art (artists, gallery owners, collectors...). The goal of this initiative by the Ricard Foundation is to promote the young French art scene abroad.The Fondation d'entreprise Ricard also helps to fund the publication of artists' monographs and collective works.The website of the Foundation (www.fondation-entreprise-ricard.com) features all its activities, information on current exhibits, books supported by the Foundation and a link to the galleries associated in the Paris collective "Galeries mode d'emploi" ("Galleries - a user's manual"). The Foundation also commissions an opinion column on the young French art scene by an art critic in the "curator" part.